Abstract

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) was considered one of the the most original and influential political s, she was also a rare outstanding women in the history of human thought. Born in a German Jewish family, she experienced two world wars, studied under two giant philosopher of 20th century Heidegger and Jaspers, and later emigrated to the United States and became a U.S. citizen after the war. She had gotten a high academic reputation alive, and repeatedly caused numerous researchers’ interests after death. In recent years, Arendt’s political philosophy began more and more attented by the Chinese academia, some of her works have been translated into Chinese, relevant research papers have been emerging, especially lately writings and articles on her increased quickly, an Arendt-study craze is forming. Her study of totalitarianism by personal experience from a unique perspective influenced greatly in western academia, the book"The origins of totalitarianism" that made her begin famous is a must choice for those who research totalitarianism.Totalitarian phenomenon was an opportunity for Arendt to study political theory, a lot of later researches to a large extent were the results of her further thinking on this basis. British scholar Margaret Canovan said: "In fact, the subjects of Aendt’s entire political thought are setted by her reflection on the political disaster (totalitarian) in the mid-20th century." Exploring Arendt’s Totalitarianism research, not only provides a new perspective for understanding totalitarianism itself, but also is a key step to grasp Arendt’s political philosophy comprehensively and accurately.This paper is divided into five parts: The first Part argues about where Hannah Adren’s political philosophy came from and shows clearly that her thought absorbed Heidegger and Jaspers’ thought and was also a fruit that she reflected her career and the time she lived. The second part is the focus of this paper, the nature、the origins and the practice of the totalitarianism are discussed in this part, and the inner logic relation among the three aspects is found . The third part is actually a follow-up discussion on how to overcome and avoid totalitarianism, focuses on those important concepts which were used to construct her political theory: the political, action, public realm. The fourth part discusses the academic influence and limitations of Arendt’s political theory by a brief comparison between Arendt and Habermas, Arendt and Marx.